Source: The New Dawn (Monrovia)
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will on Monday, 25 March launch two Flag Ship Reports and validate the national consultations held on the Global Development Agenda Post 2015, dubbed "Our voices and aspirations for the world we want after 2015."

A release issued in Monrovia by the UNDP on March 21, 2013 said the launch of the 2013 Human Development Report and Liberia's 2012 MDG Report will take place at the Bella Cassa Hotel adjacent the Monrovia City Hall at 8:30 in the morning.

UNDP Country Director Dominic Sam, said there is good progress in some of the MDGs, even though Liberia's capacity to meet majority of the goals by the deadline is unlikely.

Mr. Sam however noted that efforts are underway to develop an MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF) to address MDG 5 on the reduction of Child Mortality.

Liberia is one of 14 countries that have recorded impressive Human Development Index (HDI) gains of more than 2% annually since 2000, according to the Global Human Development report released by UNDP.

The 2013 HDI under the theme "The Rise of the South: Human Development in a Diverse World" was launched on the 14th of March 2013 in Mexico City.

The Global Human Development report shows the dynamics of transforming power imbalance and examines the emerging issues and trends as well as the new actors which are shaping the global development landscape. It states that over the past decades, countries across the world have been converging towards higher levels of human development, as shown by the HDI.

Countries like Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Angola, Timor-Leste, Myanmar, Tanzania, Liberia, Burundi, Mali, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Niger have shown a remarkable change in their respective HDIs.

According to the report, though most low-HDI countries are in Africa with many emerging from long periods of armed conflicts, they have managed to make significant progress in school attendance, life expectancy and per capita income growth.

On the MDGs, Liberia has only managed to achieve three out of the eight goals namely; gender equality and empowerment (MDGs 3); Combating HIV and AIDs (MDG 6) and Building Partnership (MDG 8).

Meanwhile, the National Consultations on the Post 2015 MDG Global Development Agenda held in the 15 political sub-divisions of the country will be climaxed on Monday with a validation that reflects the wishes and priorities of Liberians in formulating clear recommendations for governments and international partners on the Post 2015 Development Framework.

• Liberia